Petal power...

Flower power

In the case of Piccolo v Larkstock 2007, Larkstock (L) ran a florist’s business near the entrance to Marylebone Station. Opposite a flower display was a pathway where Piccolo (P) slipped on some petals and water from L’s premises. P sued L and L’s landlord for his injuries. The judge found in P’s favour against L, but didn’t succeed in making L’s landlord liable as well.

The legal case

As a company, you’re right to be concerned because you’re under various obligations to ensure that anyone who comes onto your premises is safe. These obligations arise under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. You’re an “occupier” even if you don’t actually own the premises but have a degree of control over them. L rented the premises and was responsible for looking after the pathway where P fell, so was caught by the Act.

What do you have to do?

You’re under a duty to take reasonable care of your visitors to ensure that they are safe. This basically means that you could be liable if someone has an accident that’s a reasonably foreseeable consequence of your failure to do something properly. In this case it was L’s obligation to keep the pathway reasonably clear and free from obstructions. L was found liable because firstly, there had been lots of complaints about the pathway being wet, covered in petals and therefore slippery. So he was “on notice” of the potential problem. Secondly, his “clean as you go policy”, i.e. staff were told to clean up a spillage if they saw one, but not to check frequently for them, was found to be inadequate. He should have operated a more pro-active method of inspection.

Avoiding a similar fate

Don’t assume that just because you rent premises, any accidents that happen in your part of the building aren’t your problem. By all means double-check your lease to see who’s responsible under the repairing covenants for looking after and maintaining the premises, but don’t overlook your obligations as an occupier. Depending on the seriousness of the accident, as a director, this could result in you being prosecuted personally for any failings by the company when it comes to meeting its health and safety responsibilities.

Tip 1. If you’re told about a particular problem that could compromise either the safety of a visitor or their property, take steps to investigate the matter. You are now “on notice” and if you fail to do anything, it could lead to the company being found to be negligent.

Tip 2. Beseen to be pro-active when it comes to carrying out regular inspections of the premises. This means frequently looking for potential issues, keeping a record of who carried out the inspection, when and what action, if necessary, was taken to rectify any problems. This task can easily be delegated to a responsible person.

Tip 3. If third parties visit your premises, take out public liability insurance. This should protect the company if someone has an accident. As a minimum, we’d recommend you’re insured for at least £1m. In future you might need to revise this if you have more people visiting your premises.